Report: Schmidt Recovering From Battle with Advanced Skin Cancer

According to an Associated Press report released today, legendary third baseman Mike Schmidt has been battling stage 3 melanoma, going through two operations, radiation and chemotherapy. The illness is what kept Schmidt out of Phillies camp as an instructor for the first time in 12 years.

According to the report, Schmidt got a “‘crusty little thing’ on his hand checked out in August,” and a doctor found a mole on his back. The report also documented the following:

Along the way, his voice became raspy, he lost his taste buds and he had trouble concentrating. He said he also had surgery to remove 35 lymph nodes, wound up with an 8-inch scar and endured episodes of chills and restless leg syndrome.

Yep, I think we visited the same Web pages.
From the sound of it I think he may have lucked out while also receiving aggressive treatment at a good hospital. I sure hope that’s the case.

I’m about the same age as Schmitty and just had my second experience with a far less aggressive form of skin cancer. I was seeing my dermatologist once a year, then every 6 months. Now I see him every 4 months and may move it up to every 3 months.
The Sun is far more dangerous these days and past damage is collective and can’t be undone. As Schmitty suggested, everyone (at every age) should have regular checkups.

There’s no doubt in my mind that half of Jimmy Rollins is better than any whole SS currently in the Phillies’ organization and still better than at least half of the current starting crop of SS’s in MLB. That’s a tip of the hat to how good he was that he has remained a superior ball player – and from what I gather, he’s a good person, too.

I don’t even single him out for not running to first on “sure” ground-outs. As Schmenk has said on the subject, and I would agree, he’s far from the only player who walks down the line.

Having said that, no one can convince me that Jimmy or the 500 other players who may walk towards first on grounders can justify the bad habit. A hustling team may not always specifically run out every grounder, but does those things in the field and on the base paths that give them an edge, and as importantly, set a tone for the type of team they want to be. IMO, a good team SHOULD run out grounders and a bad team MUST run out grounders. If nothing else, as a fan, I want to know the players give a damn and are battling for every base they can take. World Series trips are rare events for most teams but how you play the game is meaningful during the leaner years. So I don’t blame Sandberg for expecting his players to hustle to 1st, even on a 1 in 50 chance of success. And who knows, if one player per year forces a bad throw because he hustled to 1st and his effort leads to the winning run, it could be the difference between a playoff berth and a trip home – or at least 3rd and 4th place in the final standings.

Derek Jeter runs out ground balls. Pete Rose (“Charlie Hustle”) ran to 1st even on walks. If nothing else, that brand of ball playing has a psychological effect on the opposition when they know your team won’t give up an inch.

I agree with the tenor ( and maybe even the baritone) of your comment. Let’s face it- Jimmy is Jimmy’s own worst enemy. I dislike the nasty tone of some that seem to hate him so, I don’t hate him at all.

But I have a general problem in particular with the theory that he saves himself injury problems, while risking little by not running out those 2 or 3 balls a game.

Why does he cover second on a ground ball to Chase with a man coming right at him? That’s got to be an injury waiting to happen right?

Also, Jimmy likes to jump high for liners- that’s tough on the calves and quads, and what about the inherent danger of everyones new favorite the “sports hernia”. Further, how many a year does he get to those? I’m guessing about the same percentage as – well, how many times a year he might beat out base hit or an errant throw.

Now that I’m thinking about it- Why bother to swing at pitches? Surely he could hit a ball into his foot at any time, right? He’s an older player and could ruin his season that way.

From here on out, I don’t want Jimmy swinging at baseballs anymore- he only gets hits 25- 30% of the time anyway. It’s not worth the risk.

Totally agree, Lefty. I was going to write something similar in response to someone on the site who referred to my opinion on running to 1st as “idiotic.” Then I decided not to get into a pissing match with the person. Just as you have pointed out the inherent hazards in playing aggressively at short stop or standing at the plate, I was going to mention the equivalent perils awaiting a runner sliding into second, third or home or getting a face full of an intended double play ball courtesy a second baseman’s arm.

My sarcastic cure was to have an expendable fan stand in the batter’s box with Jimmy or some other high-priced player and let the fan run the bases (if he’s still conscious). Certainly an experience he’ll want to relate to his grandchildren.

I’ve loved watching Jimmy play and the city will be a sadder place when his playing days do finally come to an end. But Ryne Sandberg was making a statement that was not only valid but also necessary, especially for the 2014 team. In losing there is more often than not, a general malaise that settles over a team. Pride, hustle and hard play help the team weather those periods and make them stronger when their time has come again to reign supreme. The Sixers have lost a franchise record 21 games in a row yet by all reports their spirit hasn’t been broken and they play hard despite their limited capacity to perform at the level of most teams in the league. I hope Sandberg runs that kind of ship this year. It will make those long, hot Summer days far more bearable, no matter how many games out of first his charges may fall.

Ryno made a statement. I hope young and old grasp his larger point. It may just make better players and teammates out of all of them.

As a fan it would be more satisfying to me if everyone ran down the line as hard as they could all the time.

But a player can be ~99%+ effective at that without running full speed on sure outs. That’s not close to being the case in turning double plays, running the bases, jumping or reaching for balls, swinging the bat, etc.